Tube-cutter



(No Model.)

B. A. RITCHIE.

TUBE CUTTER.

No. 328,973. Patented 001;. 27, 1885.

WIkF EEE E lIIX/E kn? w i l UNITED Starts Farmer OFFlQE.

DAVID A. RITCHIE, OF BOSTON, MASSACHUSETTS.

TUBE-CUTTER.

SPEGII-ICATIQN forming part of Letters Patent No. 328,973, dated ctober27. 1885.

Application filed February 2, 1885. Serial No. 154,676. (No model.)

Mm ,To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that 1, DAVID A. RITCHIE, of rosion, (Ohelsea,) county ofSuffolk, and State of Massachusetts, have invented an Improvement inCutting Apparatus for Sheet Metal Cubing, of which the followingdescription, in onnection with the accompanying drawings, aspecification, like letters on the drawings epresenting like parts.

My invention relates to cutting apparatus ntended to be used inconnection with a ma- .xhine for making sheet-metal tubing from conzuuous strips of sheet metal, the edges of the heet metal being unitedby a machine,which forms the tubing continuously on a mandrel. histubing has to be cut into uniform lengths suitable for shipment, and, aspracticed prior to .i V invention, the tubing as'it is delivered fromin; machine has been cut into lengths by a saw other cutting apparatusindependent of the .n chine by which the tubing is made. By this;1-'i.hod considerable time is consumed in cut- L. oil the tubing, andit is difficult to make 1; pieces of uniform length, and the edges of etubing where out are rough and uneven, ind not square with the tubing.

In my invention the machine by which the tubing is made has connectedwith, and forming a part of it, a cutting device cooperating 0 with themandrel over which the tubing is formed by the machine, this cuttingdevice operating to cut the tubing quickly and smoothly.

Figure 1 is a front elevation of a cutting apparatus embodying thisinvention forming part of a machine for manufacturing sheet metaltubing, and Fig. 2 is a vertical section thereof.

The machine for making the metal tubing may be of any suitable or usualconstruction, a portion only of the mandrel a and bed or framework 5 ofthe machine being shown in Fig. 2, this being sufficient to illustratethe present invention, which is independent of 4 5 the particularmechanism employed for forming the tubing. As shown, in this instancethe invention is used in connection with a machine for making spiraltubing, or tubing composed of a strip of metal wound spirally about themandrel a, and having its edges united by a spiral-lapped seam or joint,a portion of the tubing being shown at c.

In the operation of the machine the tubing 0 is delivered from the endof the mandrel a with a continuous movement in the direction of thearrow thereon, Fig. 2, and when a sufficient length has been made themachine is stopped and the portion of the tube beyond the mandrel is cutoff.

In order to cut the tubing smoothly and quickly,the machine is providedwith a cutting device supported on an upright or bracket, cl, fastenedupon the table I) of the machine, and having an opening, d, concentricwith the mandrel a, through which opening the tubing 0 passes as it ismade by the machine.

The upright d has a circular socket, d which receives a plate, 6, shownas having a circumferential groove, 6, engaged by set-screws in thebracket, which hold the said plate in the socket, and are adjusted toproduce a slight friction, so as to prevent the plate from turningfreely in the socket, although it may turn when sufficient power isapplied.

The plate 6 has pivotally connected with it at 9 an arm or lever, it,provided with a cutter, 2', consisting ofa sharp'edged disk pivoted onthe said lever and having one face in the plane of the end of themandrel a, so that when the said disk is pressed toward the mandrel itsedge will pass through the sheet metal supported on the mandrel with ashearing cut.

The arm or lever h is pr o'vided with a hendle, h, and is acted upon bya spring-plunger, 7c, longitudinally movable in a hollow bolt, m,containing a spring, which acts on the said plunger, forcing it outward,the said bolt screwing into a lug, n, on the plate 6, thus enabling thepressure of the plunger against the lever h to be adjusted by turningthe said bolt in one or the other direction.

The movement of the lever h on its pivot g in either direction islimited by a suitable stop, shown in this instance as a bolt, 0, passing through a slot in the said lever, the bolt being connected with orscrewed into the plate 6.

Then in the operation of the machine the tubing made projects thedistance desired for a single length or piece for instance, ten or lCorrection, in Letters Patent No. 328,973.

twelve feet from the end of the mandrel a-the machine is stopped and theoperator taking hold of the handle 71/ moves it in the direction of thearrow thereon in Fig. 1,when, owing to the frictional resistance to therotary movement of the plate 6, the lever h first turns on its pivot 9until the edge of the cutter is pressed through the sheet metal of thetubing 0 at the end of the mandrel. 'VVhen the cutter i is thusprojected just through the metal of the tubing, the movement of thelever h on its pivot g is arrested by the stop 0, and as the operatorcontinues his pressure on the handle h the latter revolves, turning theplate e with it in the socket of the bracket d, and when the said platehas been turned completely around the mandrel to the position from whichit started the cutteri will have revolved completely around the mandrel,cutting wholly through the tubing 0, entirely around the same, and thussevering the tubing smoothly and evenly exactly at the end of themandrel. The machine is then started and run until another length oftubing is made, when the machine is stopped and the cutting operationrepeated as before. The mandrel a will preferably be provided at its endwith a disk, a, of steel, the edge of which co-operates with the cutteri, which latter as it revolves about the mandrel also turns on its pivoton the lever h, so that its edge has a shearing action on the metal ofthe tubing, one side of the cutter being plane and coinciding with theplane of the end of the mandrel and the other side being beveled.

It is easy to measure the exact distance that the tubing projects beyondthe end of the mandrel, and to stop the machine each time when equallengths thus project, and the cutting operation is then quicklyperformed by the operator, it being necessary only to take hold of thehandles h and revolve the same through a complete circle, and it iscertain that the tubing is cut squarely,or at right angles to its axis,and exactly at the end of the mandrel.

I claim 1 1. In a machine for making sheet-metal tubing, thecombination, with the mandrel on which the tubing is formed, of acutting device encircling the mandrel and adapted to act on and severthe tubing projecting from said mandrel, substantially as described.

2. In a cutting device for machines for making sheet-metal tubing, thecombinatiomwith a mandrel upon which the tube is made and thereafterheld while being cut, of a plate encircling and rotatable about thetubing, alever pivoted upon said plate, and a cutter secured to saidlever, substantially as described.

3. The combination of the bracket or upright and plate frictionally heldtherein with a cutter-lever pivoted on said plate, a spring-plungerforcing said cutter-lever into a position of inaction, and a stoplimiting the pivotal move ment of the said lever with relation to thesaid plate, substantially as described.

4-. The combination of the bracket or upright and rotatable platefrictionally held therein with a lever pivoted to said plate andprovided with a cutter, a springplunger normally holding said lever in aposition of inaction, a stop co-operating with said lever to limit itspivotal movement, and a handle for said lever to first move it pivotallyand thereafter cause it to carry around the plate within the bracket andso render the cutter operative, substantially as described.

5. The mandrel and its attached cutter combined with a bracket, arotatable plate frictionally held in said bracket and encircling themandrel, and a cutter arranged upon said plate in the plane of thecutter upon the mandrel and cooperating therewith in cutting the tube onIt is hereby certified that the residence of the patentee in LettersPatent No. 328,973, granted October 27, 1885, upon the application ofDavid A. Ritchie, for an improvement in Tube-Cutters, was erroneouslywritten and printed Boston, Massachusetts,

whereas said residence-should have been written and printed Chelsea,Massachusetts and that the said Letters Patent should be read with thiscorrection therein that the same may conform to the record of the casein the Patent Office.

Signed, countersigned, and sealed this 24th day of November, A. D. 1885.

[, SEAL] Oountersigned:

M. V. IVIONTGQMERY,

Commissioner of Patents.

H. L. MULDROW, Acting Secretary of the Interior.

